Many all-purpose cleaners contain 2-butoxyethanol. Exposure to this chemical may give you the following health effects: headaches, dizziness, and feelings of being light headed. You may also experience eye, throat, mouth, and nose irritation.
Why not make the following cleaning products, which are better for the environment, your health and your budget!
Vinegar Cleaning Spray1/2 vinegar + 1/2 water + squirt of dishwashing liquid concentrate. To make it smell nice you can add some essential oil or another essence. Peppermint essence makes it smell lovely! Warning: This is not recommended on wooden or lacquered surfaces.
Replaces: Kitchen spray, Spray and Wipe.
Bonus use: This cleaning spray can be sprayed on ants that are invading your kitchen, and they will die within minutes! I don’t know how it works, but it does!
1/3 methylated spirits + 2/3 water. Spray on the glass and wipe with a paper towel. Keep rubbing until the smeary look is gone and the glass is clean.
Replaces: Windex, other glass cleaners.
In a 400ml Febreeze bottle pour 100ml of fabric softener to 300mls warm water. Shake well before use.
Replaces: Febreeze.
1/2 cup Bicarb soda + a few drops of Lavender essential oil. Place in a jar and replace lid. Shake vigorously. Sprinkle into sneakers and other stinky shoes.
Replaces: Other shoe deodorisers.
Mix 1tbs of dishwashing liquid and 3tbs of vinegar into 1 litre of cold water. Put it on the spot that needs cleaning, making it fairly wet. Leave it for a couple of seconds then scrub it a little and soak the liquid out with a towel.
Submitted by Chelsea
Toss away stinky moth balls! Get some cloves and push as many as you can into a whole orange, then hang it in the wardrobe. This will also keep away smells of must.
Protect your storage containers by sprinkling whole cloves in them. Moths hate cloves, and instead of smelling like old people your boxes will smell like the sweet spice of Christmas.
To deodorise the interior of your car, put some vanilla on a cotton ball and place in a foam cup that has had the top half cut off. Place it under the passenger seat out of sight.
Combine olive oil with a little lemon juice. Using a cloth, rub the oil into wooden furniture. Then with a clean soft cloth, buff the furniture. Your furniture will be shiny and smell fresh clean.
Mint and basil are natural insect repellents. They will help keep mozzies and flies at bay. Plant basil and mint in pots and keep them around your outdoor entertaining area so you can hopefully eat without having to share with the flies and be bitten to death!
3 tbs bicarb soda
2 cups of hot water
1 lemon
Grate the rind off the lemon then squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Add to the hot water along with the bicarb. When cooled put into a pump pack.
Make a natural bleach for bathrooms and toilets: combine borax and lemon juice into a paste and rub onto the toilet bowl. Allow it to sit for a while then flush it away.
Combine 1 tsp of salt to 1 cup of vinegar. Add some plain flour and mix with a spoon. Keep adding flour until you get a paste sort of consistency. Rub the paste into the metal item and let it sit for 20 minutes. Rinse well with warm water and then polish with a soft cloth. Suitable for pewter, copper, brass, or silver.
Combine 5 cups of bicarb soda with 80 drops of 100% eucalyptus oil in a large zip-lock bag. Shake vigorously until there are no clumps and the mixture is very well mixed. Use the container that once had your store bought sprinkles to store your sprinkles in. Otherwise make up a container/shaker of your own. Sprinkle then simply vacuum up. These sprinkles will absorb odours in the carpet and leave a fresh clean smell behind!
Alternative Recipe: instead of using eucalyptus oil in your sprinkles, you can add 2 cups of crushed lavender flowers to 4 cups of bicarb soda. Mix well. Sprinkle on the carpets and vacuum as usual.